Koorosh Angali, visual artist, poet, musician. The winner of numerous awards and scholarships in visual arts, music, and academic endeavors, Koorosh Angali is a prolific multi-talented artist and scholar: painter, poet, musician, stage actor, and a virtuoso exponent of Rumi's poetry, and Persian classical literature. As a poet (In Search of One's Own Self, 1995, Nashr-e Ketab Publications, Los Angeles) and lyricist, his compositions have been published and performed profusely. Moreover, for many years, the followers of Rumi's philosophy and poetry have enjoyed Koorosh's distinctive style in reading and interpretation of the poetry of this thirteenth century Persian philosopher and poet. The awards Koorosh has received include the San Francisco Weekly Magazine Wammies Award for his lyrics in the album The Child Within(X Dot 25, 1992), by Aldoush and the Human Exchange. He has also composed a large number of musical pieces and tracks for stage plays, including an operetta for The Wise Piglet, by Roham Sheikhani. Koorosh Angali has constantly been a student of his heritage, incorporating the magnificent aspects of his culture in his painting, poetry, and music.

"As an obsession since childhood, painting has been my number one occupation and everything else orbits around this sphere. Nevertheless, art, in general, has always been my "occupation" par excellence: my poetry supports my painting; I compose music to nurture these two; I do all three to be alive and then I perform, and the stage is the final thrill for me—my ultimate reward. For me, these worlds are inseparable."—Koorosh Angali

Album Details:

Koorosh Angali Recites Rumi - Volume I

Featuring Alan Kushan on Santur

X DOT 25 Music Productions celebrated Rumi's 790th birthday on September 30, 1997, with this spiritual journey into the realm of Persian verse and music.

To mark Rumi's 790th birthday and more exposure for this great Persian poet and philosopher, X DOT 25 Music released a 60 minute CD containing poems from Rumi's "Divaan-e Kabeer" book accompanied by music performed by Santur Maestro Alan Kushan (the Dusty Man).

For many years, the followers of Rumi's philosophy have enjoyed Koorosh's interpretations in reading the poetry of this thirteenth century philosopher/poet. The San Francisco Weekly Magazine Wammies Award winner, Koorosh Angali has constantly been a student of his heritage, incorporating the magnificent aspects of his culture in his painting, poetry, and music.

Koorosh Angali, a virtuoso exponent of Rumi's poetry, and Persian classical literature, is himself a poet ("In Quest Of One's Self," 1995, Nashr-e Ketab Publications, Los Angeles). For many years, the followers of Rumi's philosophy have enjoyed Koorosh's interpretations in reading the poetry of this thirteenth century philosopher/poet. The San Francisco Weekly Magazine Wammies Award winner, Koorosh Angali has constantly been a student of his heritage, incorporating the magnificent aspects of his culture in his painting, poetry, music, and performance.

Alan Kushan

"Rumi I - Koorosh Angali Recites Rumi" is the first of a series of compact disks which will be released by X DOT 25 Music, bringing to audio the words and wisdom of Rumi to a broader audience around the world. Here Koorosh Angali (himself a poet) recites a selection of Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Balkhi's odes from the diwan (poetical miscellany) of Shams Tabrizi. In this album we used Rumi's original Persian language, in which these penetrating words were written, so you can hear it the way it originally sounded, to realize why Mawlana has so dearly entered so many hearts in the world throughout the past eight centuries.Alan Kushan accompanies Koorosh Angali with some magnificent santur pieces setting the mode for the wisdom of "the Master", whose verses are praised by millions of Sufis and the followers of mysticism, spirituality, and eastern philosophy. There are interpretations of every poem in English in the liner notes of this great compact disk. Koorosh Angali, a virtuoso exponent of Rumi's poetry, and Persian classical literature, is himself a poet ("In Quest Of One's Self," 1995, Nashr-e Ketab Publications, Los Angeles).

Jelâl Ad-dîn Muhammad Balkhi was nicknamed "Mawlânâ" (Our Master) by the Middle Eastern mystics, and is wrongly known as Rumi in the West - due to the fact that he spent the latter part of his life, and died, in Kunya, the city in Turkey which is also known as the Eastern Rome (hence the words Rum and Rumi 'from Rum').

He was born on September 30, 1207 in Balkh, a city in Afghanistan which was a part of the Persian empire at that time. His father, Bahâ' Ad-dîn Muhammad - known as Bahâ' Walad, also was a practitioner of a Sufi sect known as Kobrawi (the followers of Nadjm Ad-dîn Kobri), and as a reputable preacher he also was called Sultan Al Ulamâ' (the King of the Learned/Scholar).

His family probably fled from Balkh around 1219-20 AD, due to the invasion of Eastern Iran by the Mongols. They first went to Baghdad but soon headed for Hijaz, in an attempt to pay a visit to Ka'ba. From there they went, first to Syria and then settled in Kunya, where Mawlânâ spent the rest of his life until his death on December 17, 1273.

The "event" of his life was his meeting with Shams of Tabriz (Shams Ad-dîn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Malak-dâd Tabrizi), a slender tall wandering Sufi in his sixties with piercing, yet kind eyes and a sad suffering face, sometime in the December of 1245 AD. It was only after this encounter that Mawlânâ realized what he had learned in his religious and gnostic studies and what they really meant. That was his first encounter with the real meaning of Life.

The numbers in the following refer to the assignment found in the Foruzanfar edition of Kulliyat-e Shams (Negah Publication, Tehran, 1994)

1. The Essence (#58)Music+Verse, 4:05Here comes the King, the Master.He is the soul of the soul of the soul, and thus he leads the way,And we are to submit to him without a word.

2. A Drink of Fire (#2295)Music+Verse, 3:05There you come, all drunken, o my beloved soul-snatcher!Let me have that fire-filled chalice:I'll drink it up with pleasure.Set my harvest afire: ''tis the nature of Lovethat the lover should be as homeless as a vagabond.Behold! My heart is like a glass-blowers shop, yours, like a rock.

3. Hush Up! (#95)Music+Verse, 3:36Oh, how wonderful, how beautiful is the love we possess!No shackles, no chains, and yet,We are bound ever so tightly.What is the secret? O Lord, what is the secret?Whatever it is, Hush up!There are strangers all around.Hush up!4. The Nocturnal Trip (#542)

4. The Nocturnal Trip (#542)Music+Verse, 4:15This love is like the daylight, concealed in the night. He who is aware of this light would set his sleep afire: Thus does Venus vie the Moon: through this nocturnal trip, We are able to abandon our earthly shape.5. Wounded (#3108)

6. Our Beloved (#44)Music+Verse, 5:27Who has ever seen a Lord like ours?Never he shows a bitter face to us,Though he sees so many wrong-doings from us.7. Without You (#140)

7. Without You (#140)Music+Verse, 6:03Without you may there not be, A remedy for my pain.8. The Bond (#323)

8. The Bond (#323)Music+Verse, 4:45The bondage of "self" would be eliminated through selflessness.9. Body and Soul (#2575)

9. Body and Soul (#2575)Music+Verse, 4:40Do not take your Body to Shams.There's no room: the Soul has occupied all the space.10. Blend (#2381)

10. Blend (#2381)Music+Verse: 5:52Behold, how love and the lovers are blended into each other,No more would you have this world and the other.The Water, the Fire, the Dust, and the Wind: The four enemies,All mingled as friends.The wolf and the sheep, the lion and the deer,Are all associated as friends.11. Yield (#427)

12. Restless (#302)Music+Verse: 4:51Day and night I am restless for you,You wanted my heart and soul,Here they are, help me find all that which is in my brain.I am like a lyre: you play me and my cry reaches the heavens, The sown field of my soul is so thirsty,That is why I cry day and night.